Saterienne Rapier vs Gheleon’s Demise

This version of Gheleon’s Demise has the attractive Outlaw and Firefly perks by default, mirroring that of the Crucible Quartermaster’s The Saterienne Rapier, a favorite among PvE players.

Let’s take a look how the two scout rifles compare head-to-head, and which one you should purchase first.

Acquisition

To purchase The Saterienne Rapier you’ll have to reach rank 3 in Crucible reputation in addition to obtaining 150 marks, which can take as few as 240 wins or as many as 600 losses.

For Gheleon’s Demise you’ll have to reach rank 5 in the Iron Banner, which requires a total of 8500 reputation. Depending on how often you participate in the Iron Banner, you should be able to attain rank 5 within the week the event is active.

Maximize your standing by equipping the Iron Banner class item, emblem and shader for a 33% reputation bonus. The Tempering buff will also help by increasing gains for 12 hours.

Both will require dedication and grinding, especially if you don’t compete in the Crucible often, as these can only be obtained by playing in the Crucible.

Face-Off

Did you get through the hurdle? Good! Now let’s get down to the brass tacks.

The Saterienne Rapier has been a Guardian favorite for a long time and for good reason. It’s a junior version (minus the physical size) of the elusive Fatebringer hand cannon, and since it’s got a higher range and stability, many people prefer it.

The Crucible Quartermaster version comes equipped with the Outlaw and Firefly perks, which decreases your reload speed by half after precision kills, and targets killed with precision causes them to explode with a solar blast.

The Red Dot-OAS sights give it a healthy increase to stability, which is always a welcome with your choice of High Caliber Rounds, Hammer Forged and Armor Piercing Rounds.

Hammer Forged makes a solid choice as it will bring the average range to nearly maximum. It has a quick reload speed and decent rate of fire, in line with favorites such as the Fang of Ir Yut and Vision of Confluence.

The primary concern with The Saterienne Rapier is the low magazine size, and there’s no way to increase it either. Unfortunately neither of these scout rifles are able to roll Field Scout.

A marksman’s weapon forged in fire by the Lords of the Iron Banner,Gheleon’s Demise is special in its own right.

At 61 Impact, it falls in line with the highest Impact scout rifles (tied with Badger CCL), meaning it hits like a truck. At 73 damage per headshot in the Crucible, it’s a 3-headshot kill.

Besides its limited time in the Tower, the main selling point of the rifle is the ability to reroll perks via Lord Saladin for 2 Motes of a Light a pop. You can reroll as many times as you want, though many would say you’d be crazy to change its default perks.

Unfortunately it has the near lowest stability, but because the rate of fire is so low, you’ll have enough time to adjust your shots to make up for it.

In PvE the low rate of fire isn’t an issue at all because you want to have more power over quicker shots. In PvP it may take some getting used to but the Impact more than makes up for it in most circumstances.